Automated external defibrillator

An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable device that analyzes heart rhythm and advises or delivers an electrical shock to treat certain cardiac arrests.

Ventricular fibrillation: A chaotic heart rhythm in which the ventricles quiver instead of pumping blood effectively. AEDs are designed to identify this shockable rhythm and recommend defibrillation.
Cardiac arrest: The sudden loss of effective heart pumping, causing blood flow to stop. AEDs are used during cardiac arrest when a shockable rhythm is present.
Automated rhythm analysis: Computerized interpretation of heart electrical signals to identify rhythms requiring treatment. This analysis determines whether the AED advises a shock.
Frank Pantridge: A Northern Irish physician who pioneered mobile coronary care and portable defibrillation. His portable defibrillator helped establish the possibility of treating cardiac arrest outside hospitals.
Manual defibrillator: A defibrillator whose operator interprets the rhythm and selects shock settings. An AED performs rhythm analysis and guides or controls shock delivery instead.
Ventricular tachycardia: A rapid rhythm originating in the ventricles that can prevent effective blood circulation. Pulseless ventricular tachycardia is another cardiac-arrest rhythm an AED may treat.
Basic life support: Emergency care that supports breathing and circulation, including CPR and defibrillation. AED use is integrated with CPR rather than replacing it.
Defibrillation electrode: An adhesive conductive pad that transfers electrical energy between a defibrillator and the body. AED pads both sense cardiac signals and deliver current through the chest.
Portable defibrillator: A transportable device that delivers electrical shocks to treat dangerous heart rhythms. AEDs are an automated form of this broader device family.
Wearable cardioverter-defibrillator: A garment-based device that continuously monitors heart rhythm and can deliver a shock. It is worn continuously, unlike an AED brought to a person during an emergency.

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